Exiting app through the Notification Center [workaround available]

In iOS 8, Apple made changes to the Notification Center that drops down from the top of the screen that allow users to edit the notifications they are shown from within the Notification view pane. This can allow users to exit to the Calendar app or to mobile Safari through the link to more detailed weather information.

Status

Workaround available requiring user configuration of the iOS. Major changes to the iOS operating system would be required for us to be able to block the Notification Center directly without user involvement.

Scope

This issue affects devices running:

iOS 8 and later

Note: In iOS 7, it is possible to simply turn off all Notifications that might be shown by going to the main 'Settings' menu > 'Notifications' > and turning off notifications for each app individually so that the 'Include' list is empty. While this approach does not block the Notification view from being shown at the top of the screen if a user swipes down, in iOS 7, there is no way to edit this screen from the Notification view and no way to exit the app from within the view.

Possible Workarounds

To ensure that visitors are unable to access this Notification view and thus leave the app, we recommend the use of Guided Access or Single App Mode (see related articles below).